Nov. 15, 2005

Final Stats

Winston-Salem, NC - The Winston-Salem State University Lady Rams basketball team would trail only once, and only for 22 seconds, as they easily cruised past the Queens University (NC) Royals in non-conference women's basketball action at the C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem, NC by the score of 78-59 on Tuesday evening improving to 1-0 overall (0-0 CIAA) on the season in the process. 

WSSU's All-CIAA First-Team forward Shalonda Carter (Jr./Fayetteville, NC) started the contest with a power post move to score the game's first points only 47 seconds into the first half. 

The Royals would answer little more than a minute later to tie the contest, eventually taking their only lead of the game with 17:28 to play in the first period when Erinn Hayes converted a ten-footer to make the score 4-2 in favor of Queens.

The lead would be short-lived however as WSSU mounted a 16-5 run over the game's next nine minutes seemingly sealing the Lady Ram victory.

The WSSU lead would balloon to as many as 21 points with 5:38 remaining in the first half as the Lady Rams took a comfortable 17 point cushion into the locker ream at the halftime intermission, leading 44-27.

The second half of play nearly mirrored the first 20 minutes as the Lady Rams pushed their lead to as many as 27 points, holding Queens in check for the entire second half.

WSSU was the beneficiary of excellent defense, a trademark of Head Coach John Williams' funadamentals-based system as the Lady Rams forced 29 Royals' turnovers which they turned into 32 points.

"We played well enough to get the win tonight, and I am proud of our young ladies for that.  We have things to work on, that is for sure.  It is the first game of the season and we need to work on the little things like decision-making and making the extra pass, but the effort was there.  The ladies worked hard, and they deserved the win.  It is good to start a long season with a `W' and I am happy for our team that we got that win tonight," John Williams said in post-game interviews.

WSSU was paced by newcomer Candace Saunders (Fr./Greensboro, NC) who tallied 11 points as she led four Lady Rams into double-figures in scoring.

Shalonda Carter, Tiffany Tonkins (Sr./Greensboro, NC), and Latoya Armstrong (Jr./Rocky Mount, NC) all chipped in with 10 points in the win.

The Royals were paced by Phylicia Turner who tallied 15 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

The Lady Rams move to 1-0 overall with the win (0-0 CIAA) while the Royals fall to 0-1.  WSSU returns to action at the C.E. Gaines Center on Friday evening at 7:30 pm as they play host to Barton College in the second game of the Lady Ram Invitational Basketball Tournament.

For additional information on WSSU women's basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Sports Information at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at www.WSSURAMS.com

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